Ukrainian MP Maxim Kuryachiy, who also heads the Ukraine-Azerbaijan inter-parliamentary working group, has criticized the Zaporozhye Regional Council for its statement on the so-called “Armenian genocide”.

No local council in Ukraine has the right to submit issues of strategic importance for nationwide discussion, Kuryachiy told APA on Wednesday.

“This is not at their [deputies of the Zaporozhye Regional Council] level. We shouldn’t allow a split in Ukrainian society. There can be no such an issue on the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada. However, there are efforts to put it on the agenda”, he said.

The deputy noted that people ask about the issue: “Such questions are very complicated and cause concern. And this in turn causes concern to the Azerbaijani and Turkish diplomatic authorities,” he added.

“Every time when the relations between Azerbaijan and Ukraine are moving to a new level, political, economic and cultural ties are strengthening, attempts are being made to weaken the promising cooperation by any means,” Kuryachiy stressed.

According to him, those who resort to such attempts are trying to put Ukraine face to face with its reliable partners.

The deputy called on the Ukrainian society to show restraint and avoid political manipulation.

Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Ukraine was unavailable for comment on the matter.

The United Diaspora of Ukrainian Azerbaijanis had earlier appealed to Andriy Parubiy, Speaker of Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (parliament) in protest at the statement made at the 11th session of the Zaporozhye Regional Council on the occasion of the anniversary of the so-called “Armenian genocide”.